INDIE SOAP BEAT: December 16, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production. Click the show logos to visit the official websites.

The world of KINDRED features three twenty-something African-American women as they navigate family, work and love against the gritty skyline of New York City. The show premiered in November from SistaPAC Productions.

Created by Al Thompson, LENOX AVENUE is about three friends navigating through the rough terrain of love and relationships while living in Harlem. The show is currently in production. No official launch date has been announced but the show was screened in September at the South Bronx Film Festival and in November at the Big Apple Film Festival.

Six episodes have been produced so far of THE NEW TWENTIES, about six friends ten years after college. The show was created by Tracy Taylor and stars Taylor, Sharif Atkins, Ray Campbell, David Haley, Erin Wiley and April Parker-Jones.

DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM chronicles the lives of three single mothers and their families trying to get ahead in a world that is trying to hold them under. The show is produced and directed by Robert Townsend and premiered in January. New episodes start December 17.

GOTHAM is on fire with casting news. The great Anna Stuart is the latest actress to join the cast. Stuart will be playing the mother of Michael Park's Richard Manning. The next new episode will air on Monday, December 21.

VENICE aired another season on teaser on Friday with the second episode now airing on Friday, December 18. Creator/star Crystal Chappell told Soap Opera Digest the fans are making the show possible: "Because of what they bought in the [online] store, it funded season one, so it's their investment in this and it's been strong and solid. We made the money for season two on the first episode, so it's going to move forward."

Seven episodes have now been posted of the new web soap ANACOSTIA. The show takes place in DC's Anacostia community neighborhood. You can catch up here.

"The show is escapism," producer/writer Anthony Anderson told Examiner.com. “It shows Anacostia in a completely different way that I don’t think people get a chance to see. People usually see 'local teen gets shot', but, they don’t see everyday that there are people out there working, striving and have great lives."

It's not really "indie" but BET.com's BUPPIES is getting much critical acclaim. The show stars former THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS actress Tatyana Ali and former AS THE WORLD TURNS actor Earnest Waddell. The fourth episode, "The Fire This Time," is now online.

HABESHA LIFE is an episodic online short film series. The story is about a group of young habesha/abesha in and around Washington DC Metro area. Each episode has different story, but linked through the characters. The characters are generally dealing with their dreams, existence, freedom, womanhood, manhood, finding love, losing love, hooking up, breaking up, dealing with family, finding yourself, experimenting, living together, finding one self, exploring new experience, accepting new things, rejecting new things, confusion, clarity, hate, love, sex, etc.

THE LOVERS & FRIENDS show debuted in January 2008 and tells the story of six main characters and their life experiences as a lesbians from an ethnic background living in today’s society. The most recent episode, the show's seventh from season three, premiered on November 25.

MONEY, POWER & RESPECT is a drama centered on a ruthless Atlanta family's quest for, you guest it, money, power and respect.